captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight: after 16 years of u.s. military presence and sacrifice in afghanistan, and yesterday's historic bomb drop, where does that country stand? then, as easter approaches, we go to seville, spain, where the decline of cloistered life is on full display in the city's crumbling convents. >> reporter: convents like santa inez here in seville are hidden treasures from an earlier era. small, once bustling communities, but with fewer inhabitants now, and the walls themselves decaying. >> woodruff: and, it's friday. mark shields and david brooks are here to analyze the week's news. all that and more, on tonight's

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>> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and friends of the newshour. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: north korea issued a new warning today to the united states. it came amid signs that the north might be getting ready for another nuclear test. the vice foreign minister charged that the trump administration is "more vicious and more aggressive" than president obama's. >> ( translated ): we are taking

into account the most aggressive and dangerous option that the u.s. might come up with, and we have also got our options, our countermeasures ready in our hands, which means we'll go to war if they choose. >> woodruff: there's rising speculation that pyongyang could carry out a nuclear or missile test tomorrow. that's when the north marks the 105th anniversary of the birth of kim il sung, who founded the hard-line communist state in 1948. russia, syria and iran say they have sent a "strong message" to the u.s. not to attack syria again. their foreign ministers met in moscow today. they warned that another u.s. military strike could have "grave consequences" for regional and global security. president trump ordered a cruise missile barrage in syria last week, after accusing its government of a poison gas attack. in turkey, voters headed toward a momentous decision: whether to approve greatly expanded powers for president recep tayyip

erdogan. sunday's referendum has sharply divided the country, and european election observers say the government has tried to intimidate the opposition. erdogan lashed out at them today. >> ( translated ): now they say if the result is yes, that means there are a lot of problems. who are you? first of all, you should know your place. this is not your duty. you can't talk about what will happen if the result is yes or no. >> woodruff: erdogan has carried out a sweeping crackdown since an attempted coup last year. back in this country, death penalty opponents rallied in little rock, arkansas, against plans to execute seven death row inmates by the end of the month. the protest featured celebrity speakers and hundreds of others. the first execution is scheduled for monday night. arkansas has not put anyone to death since 2005, but officials say the state's supply of a lethal injection drug is about

to pass its expiration date. a federal judge in san francisco is being asked to block president trump's executive order on so-called "sanctuary cities." it withholds federal funding from cities that won't cooperate on deporting undocumented immigrants. san francisco and santa clara counties argued today for a nationwide injunction against enforcing the funding ban. the trump white house says it will not release logs of its visitors. today's announcement was a break from president obama's practice, but trump administration officials say it is in line with what previous presidents did. they cite privacy and national security concerns. and, christians around the world marked this good friday with solemn observances. pope francis presided at the traditional "way of the cross" procession in rome, with thousands in attendance. and in this country, hundreds of people walked the brooklyn bridge in new york, behind a man

carrying a cross. still to come on the newshour: what a massive bombing says about the u.s. role in afghanistan; decades of sexual abuse uncovered at a top boarding school; preserving convents in southern spain, and much more. >> woodruff: the united states' involvement in afghanistan was brought into stark relief yesterday with a massive airstrike in the country's east. but after nearly 16 years, thousands of casualties and billions of dollars, where does the american effort stand? and is the country any closer to being stabilized? william brangham begins our coverage. >> reporter: the video shows a remote mountain valley, suddenly consumed by a blast equal to 11 tons of t.n.t. the weapon, called a "massive ordnance air burst" or m.o.a.b.,

was used for the first time on the battlefield yesterday, in this strike against islamic state forces. >> this was the right weapon against this target. >> reporter: in kabul today, the top american commander in afghanistan, army general john nicholson, called its use a tactical decision, not a strategic change in policy. >> the enemy had created bunkers, tunnels and extensive minefields, and this weapon was used to reduce those obstacles so we can continue our offensive into southern nangarhar. >> reporter: the target area was a district in nangarhar province, where last weekend a u.s. special forces soldier was killed. it, along with neighboring logar and kunar provinces, are rife with islamic state activity. at the same time, the taliban also continues to control and contest broad swaths of the afghan countryside. the taliban and isis have claimed responsibility for a series of recent attacks in kabul that have shaken the capital. afghan officials say thursday's blast killed 36 islamic state

militants, but no civilians. isis denied anyone was killed. afghans citizens appeared divided on using the bomb against isis, or daesh, as it's also known. >> ( translated ): we are very happy, and these kinds of bombs should be used in future as well, so isis is rooted out from here. >> ( translated ): daesh is the enemy of afghanistan. i wish that america in reality targeted daesh in that area, but there are children there and they had casualties from this bombing. the whole world condemns this action. >> reporter: the u.s. still has nearly 9,000 troops in afghanistan, and general nicholson has said the nato force there needs a "few thousand" more troops to train and advise afghan forces. it's those local forces who continue to take major casualties in the fight against the insurgents. that ongoing fight will surely be on the agenda when president trump's national security advisor h.r. mcmaster visits kabul in the weeks ahead. for the pbs newshour, i'm william brangham. >> woodruff: for more on all of this, we turn to pamela constable, the "washington post" bureau chief in kabul and

islamabad. we're catching her on one of her trips home. to talk about the developments of the last few days, but also to take a look at the bigger picture in afghanistan. first of all, kabul. capital city. how stable is it, what does it feel like? >> well, you know, it's a contradiction. it's a very busy, active city. if you walked around it in the middle of the day you would think you were in the middle of any other big poor but busy city. but there's a great feeling of uncertainty and tension at this time. there's been a series of very bad suicide bombings, most recently the one at the military hospital last month which was extremely shocking, i think, to kabul residents who had gotten used to a certain sense of stability and security, and i think a lot of that is gone now. it's also a city that really shows the difficulties afghanistan's having economically. the streets are full of beggars, full of drug addicts, full of

people who are really struggling and looking for jobs, so it's a bit of a sad picture. >> woodruff: what do you attribute it to? >> oh, that's a big question. >> woodruff: that's a big question. >> many things. i think, first and foremost, has to be security. you have a very sophisticated taliban insurgency with which is doing lots and lots of attacks across the country as well in the capital. >> woodruff: and getting stronger. >> well, certainly holding its own. certainly able to carry out very frightening and persistent attacks, certainly not close to winning but they're certainly doing pretty well. then you have i.s.i.s. which is known there as daesh, which is a whole other can of worms as they say, a very different sort of enemy, more ruthless, less interested in winning hears and minds, more foreign-based, more extreme compared to the taliban and, obviously, of greater concern to the neighbors, russia, for example, is very

concerned about i.s.i.s. and less so about the taliban which they appear to be reaching out to in many ways. so that's number one. following that is a long list. there's corruption, there's poverty, there is tribal and regional problems, and there's the persistent divisions within the government itself. so people are quite frustrated and i think very disillusioned by the lack of progress on a lot of fronts. >> woodruff: where do many people place the blame there? do they blame the u.s. for not keeping more troops on the ground? do they blame the afghan government? >> i mean there's a tendency to always blame the guy in charge and, of course, that's president ghani. he deserves some of the blame. i think he probably took on more than he could chew. i think he aimed very, very high. i think he created unrealistic expectations of what was possible, given all the obstacles. i think he's made a good-faith effort. i think he's done a lot, but he's also been really bombarded

by so many problems, corruption being a major one, administrative lack of capacity, and these terrible struggles that have gone on within the government because as you know iit wasn't an elected governmen, it was a forged or forced power share government that's not gone well and i think hampered them. >> woodruff: today in "the washington post" one of your colleagues has a piece about the growing involvement of russia and iran, you mentioned it a moment ago. >> right. >> woodruff: how is that all affecting the stability there? >> the interest of iran is an old one. iran is a neighbor with lots of trade and traffic back and fovrmt it's obviously shiite. there are many, many, many shiite muslims in afghanistan. so it's a neighbor, but it's always been a neighbor hat -- that had lots of political interest in having influence of all kinds, that's not new. what's relatively new is russia, which obviously is a much more powerful country, not a neighbor

but close enough, that's showing every sign of wanting to get involved for the first time since the '80s when, obviously, they backed the government there. >> woodruff: so you now have the u.s. commander reportedly asking for thousands more u.s. troops to go in there. is there a sense that that could make a difference? >> i don't know the answer to that. i think it certainly would make an important psychological difference. you asked a minute ago about what afghans want. they are very ambivalent. the afghan administration both military and civilian very much wants more american military support. particularly what they want is air combat support, not necessarily ground troops. they say that, if they had better better combat air support from n.a.t.o., from the u.s., they could handle things on the ground. anyway, they certainly want more help. the afghan people are rather ambivalent. there's a real sort of leftover bitterness and resentment and sort of complicated legacy of

the western involvement there militarily, so the jury is still out. >> woodruff: after 16 years, it doesn't get any simpler. >> no, it doesn't. >> woodruff: pamela constable of "the washington post." thank you very much. >> very glad to be here. >> woodruff: now, an investigation that uncovered decades of sexual abuse at one of the nation's elite prep schools, and the extent to which the school hushed it up. hari sreenivasan has that story, from our new york studios. >> sreenivasan: the report, released last night, focused on a dozen former teachers at the prestigious boarding school in connecticut, choate rosemary hall. it recounts the experiences of 24 adult alumni who were allegedly abused between 1963 and 2010. investigators said the offenses ranged from kissing to groping to rape.

choate hired a law firm with no previous ties to the school to lead the investigation. jonathan saltzman was part of the "boston globe" spotlight team that helped break the story; and, paul mones is an attorney who has represented sexual abuse survivors at private schools and other institutions. he is not involved in any of the choate cases. jonathan, i want to start with you. you and your team launched this series a while back about this happening at elite prep schools in the northeast. what did this report reveal to you? >> well, we had reported on about 110 private schools in new england that had faced allegations of sexual abuse over the past 25 years, and we mentioned choate, but this report was initiated in response to that story, and it laid out in extremely graphic detail the accounts of about 24 survivors of abuse. as you said in your

introduction, some of these are extraordinarily graphic descriptions of abuse, rape. to me, the most startling thing about the report is, first, the school named 12 teachers that they said had abused kids. that's an extraordinary number, and we haven't seen that before in other schools. then what they also did was they, essentially, owned up to the fact that they had never reported these cases of abuse to child welfare authorities in connecticut, even though it had been required. >> sreenivasan: there is an incident mentioned in the report of what would likely qualify of at least attempted rape that happened in a swimming pool on a field trip in costa rica but the headmaster to the board of trustees labeled it heavy drink

and inappropriate behavior, then we find out the teacher in question was still employed as a principal at a different school until last week. >> that's right. choate got in touch with that public school in litchfield, connecticut, very recently, and i spoke to a lawyer for that school district in litchfield last night, and they said that they had -- that when this teacher applied, he used a slight variation of his name and that he never mentioned that he'd worked at choate, and that's a running theme that we found in a number of our stories. this whole passing the trash syndrome, which is that schools let teachers go quietly, they hush it up, and the teachers resurface somewhere else. >> sreenivasan: what i find particularly -- if i could just comment quickly -- particularly interesting is that the school only acted -- only acted after

the "boston globe" story. they would have been comfortable sitting on their hands in the "boston globe" did not call this. this is typical of the behavior of large institutions wherein sexual abuse happens among their ranks, so they follow the same pattern as the catholic church. there is one interesting of the part of the report, in fact, where, in the summer of 2012 -- 2002, i'm sorry, it was reported that -- they received reports a teacher molested a student. they called that teacher backto the school and basically let this teacher quietly leave and, in fact, even say, and i'm sure you remember this, where the teacher would then get a recommendation to go work at a boys' school. you have to remember that the "boston globe" stories on the catholic church with this identical behavior was happening started the review of the criminal cases in january or

february of 2002. so it's not like this happened many years ago. sometimes we say, oh, in the boy scout cases or the church cases, oh, it was the '60s, the '70s. these are, like, super smart people in an elite institution, and you have to believe they never read the "new york times" or the "boston globe" or listened to the tv or had any knowledge whatsoever of sexual abuse to act in such a way to the welfare of children since 2002. >> sreenivasan: you've described child abuse as almost a perfect crime. explain. >> right, it's a perfect crime because the victims remain silent. we underestimate the perpetrators because these are very smart people in. the cases of private schools, we know private schools survive or are best known for congeniality, con vivality, informing relationships, calling teachers by first names, coming over to the teacher's house for studying

and maybe for a glass of wine when the kid is 15 or 16 years old, so it's this breeding ground. but these perpetrators are very smart and know how to take advantage of a place that doesn't have many boundaries. >> sreenivasan: jonathan saltzman, we asked choate if they would appear and they did not but sent a statement that said says we profoundly apologize, the conduct to have the adults violates the community, the students and adults in charge with their care and honor the survivors of the sexual assault that came forward. this is part of the statement. since the report only goes to 2010, what's happening now and how are they trying to prevent it from happening again in the future? >> it's a good question. the school says that they have heightened awareness about this. in one of the cases they reported, there was one case they reported to child welfare

authorities, and this was around in 2010. they discuss greater training, things like that. and i should point out that some other attorneys that i spoke to who said -- agree with paul that this is a litany of horribles, did give the school credit for being as frank as they were in this report. i spoke also to one of the alumni, who is the only one identified as being abused because she came forward to us, and she gave them credit for being as frank as they were. i'll give you an example of how frank they are. this report -- i've never seen this in another report from a school -- has a label on the top of it saying that it contains graphic material and is not suitable reading for children. that's a pretty telling thing to put on a report.

>> and i read that and i thought, really? you know, it was good enough to sweep under the rug. i understand that, but i was turned off by that. i thought, yes, it was that graphic, but now they're saying you have to have -- you know, keep it away from unwanted eyes. i viewed this as being the only reason, as i said -- i will have to reiterate this -- if "the globe" didn't come knocking, if there wasn't a rising march of voices of students from private schools yelling for relief whether it's horace mann or st. george's school around the country, they would have done nothing agent all. >> sreenivasan: all right, gentlemen, see you on tv tonight. thanks very much. >> thanks a lot, hari. you. >> woodruff: stay with us. coming up on the newshour: mark

shields and david brooks analyze the week's news; basketball great oscar robertson on the man who broke his triple double record that has stood since 1962; and, making the case for expertise. but first, today is good friday, when christians around the world commemorate the crucifixion of jesus christ, ahead of easter sunday. one of the largest public displays occurs each year in seville, spain, but declining is threatening a long-time faith among the spanish people is threatening a long-time pillar of the catholic church-- its cloistered convents. jeffrey brown has that story, part of our continuing series, "culture at risk." >> reporter: everywhere you turn in seville, tradition and history-- reminders of a rich religious past. but rarely seen? seville's cloistered convents, cities within cities behind high walls, part of the fabric of the community, yet separate and

apart. places like the convent of santa ines, founded in 1372 by maria coronel, whose body still lies in repose in the church's chapel. prioress maria rebecca cervantes cisneros joined the sisterhood when she was just 13 years old. >> ( translated ): many people might say that a person doesn't know what she's doing at that age, but i think that it is a gift from god, and that he is free to call for you whenever he wishes, and to this day i do not regret having heeded that call. >> reporter: yet in spain today, few women heed that call. only about 15% of the population even attends mass. 25 years ago, there were 41 cloistered convents in seville-- the highest concentration in spain. today, just 15 active ones remain, and at santa ines, eight nuns, practicing what's known as their "vocation," watch over this entire complex-- six of

whom come, not from spain, but from mexico, including the prioress. >> ( translated ): here in europe, there's a very general crisis of vocations. perhaps there's also a lack of knowledge. maybe we need to promote ourselves more, because people aren't very familiar with us. many people think that the life of a contemplative is like a useless life. >> brown: convents like santa ines here in seville are hidden treasures from an earlier era. once small, but bustling communities, but with fewer inhabitants now, and the walls themselves decaying. the murals lining the courtyard, which illustrate biblical stories and are said to date to the 1400s, are cracking and flaking away. so too are many of its spanish tiles. some are held in place by fabric. the structural beams supporting the entrance to the outside world, through which everyday citizens enter daily to buy sweets through the turnstile, are cracked, in danger of collapsing. weeds grow out of every nook. >> i think this is one of the two, three convents that is in

worst shape. >> reporter: pablo longoria directs projects in spain for the world monuments fund, which last year added seville's convents to its endangered heritage "watch list." with his help, we were given rare access during the season of lent. even still, many of the nuns preferred to remain away from our cameras. >> convents are very old buildings that were usually kept by the donation of citizens, religious people who give the convents money and products, and by the nuns. so, 50 years ago, you would have 80 nuns in this convent. now you have eight left, for a huge building. >> reporter: with much less support. >> with much less support and with many more years. the average age must be 75 to 80 years. >> reporter: while santa ines has imported its nuns from mexico, at santa paula, another convent less than a mile away, most of the 20 nuns are from india. santa paula was established in 1473 by the order of saint

jerome, and thanks to the largesse of the noble family of a former prioress, is in better shape. the nuns here sell their sweets from a shop, and even have a small museum often open to the public. but with only about a third of its former population, the problem of maintaining this huge place remains. this massive church portal, designed by italian sculptor nicolas pisano and dating to 1504, combines gothic, moorish and renaissance styles, but it's been slowly destroyed by water damage, spiders nests-- an overall lack of care. >> it's more dark here. that's because of the water. >> reporter: marta villanueva has been coming here since she was a little girl, and followed her father into the field of architectural restoration. she's now working on a two-year project to restore this portal, funded by a $200,000 grant from the u.s.-based annenberg

foundation. >> ( translated ): this facade is absolutely one of a kind. there are no others like it in all of spain. it's most unique aspect is the capacity it has to unite different currents, both aesthetically and in thought. it's a synthesis of the culture that was enriching all of seville. >> reporter: but, she says, the needs of this convent and others far outstrip the means of the nuns' orders, which own them. >> ( translated ): this type of monument needs continual maintenance, and that requires means to see them through. the resources aren't always there. >> reporter: the world monuments fund is attempting to bring stakeholders together in seville-- the religious orders, the surrounding communities and the regional government-- to catalogue the damage and prioritize the greatest needs. >> the best case scenario is, we find, through careful study of the building, a way to make it sustainable through time. a way in which, if the nuns can stay, they can keep the

traditions. >> reporter: many convents have been lost already-- abandoned or converted into offices for the municipal government, museums or event spaces. javier rodriguez barberan is a professor of art history at the university of seville and like many here, grew up around the convents. >> imagine there are no nuns inside the convent. you can see a beautiful building, you can see beautiful works of art, but it's no more a convent. it would be a museum, it would be a hotel, it would be a restaurant, i don't know. but no more a convent. >> reporter: which would mean the life of the place is gone. >> exactly. exactly. >> reporter: at santa ines, prioress cervantes is asking the regional government to make good on a decades-old pledge to help restore her convent. she hopes they won't have to close this sanctuary, but is at peace in any case.

>> ( translated ): even though we are concerned about the shortage of vocations and such, i think you simply forget the present, leave it aside and give your life in devotion to the vocation we have received as a gift, and the rest is up to god. >> reporter: for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown in seville, spain. >> woodruff: now, the to backlash some g.o.p. lawmakers are facing in their home districts this week. >> answer it! answer it! >> woodruff: it's the second major congressional recess of the year, and republicans are again facing tense encounters with their constituents. take last night's raucous town hall in mesa, arizona. >> shame on you! shame on you! >> woodruff: republican senator jeff flake was booed-- lustily-- during an exchange on health care. >> mr. flake, why is it that in

germany, we have had a universal healthcare system since 1871? ( cheers and applause ) >> well, thank you for that. i just don't happen to agree, i think the free market system-- ( boos ) >> woodruff: and in south carolina, on monday: >> obamacare is denying services. ( boos ) >> woodruff: representative joe wilson heard it from voters who parroted the charge he once hurled at president obama. >> you lie, you lie, you lie! >> woodruff: wednesday night, colorado constituents demanded that representative mike coffman break with president trump. >> i'd like to know when you are going to stop voting with the president who has a 35% approval rating, and start fighting for coloradans?

( applause ) >> when i disagree with the president, i will speak out to the president. but i'm not going to do it every other day. it's when it's something significant-- >> woodruff: attendees at that event had to show an i.d., and limit signs to notebook size. other republicans have opted against holding mass voter events at all. instead, some are conducting "tele-town halls" over the phone and social media. ( boos ) a big question is: will the anger translate beyond town halls? this week in kansas, in a rock solid republican district, the g.o.p. only narrowly won a special election for the house seat vacated by mike pompeo, who's now director of the c.i.a. there's another closely-watched special house election next tuesday, in georgia, to replace tom price, the new secretary of health and human services. and with that, we turn to the

analysis of shields and brooks. that's syndicated columnist mark shields, and "new york times" columnist david brooks. >> woodruff: the n.b.a. playoffs welcome, gentlemen. so, david, what do you make of all this hostility at some of the town halls? >> i think there are with two issues. one is the hostility of the town hall. i'm not sure what to make of that. i think it's progressives are as enraged as the tea party people were of several years ago. the larger issue is the shift in the polls in that kansas race and other races and the shift we see in the polls generally. that's not only the fact progressives are more energized but also the drifting away of rvps from the trump administration. it's not happening on the state level so this is trump related. if i were a house member, if i had won my last seat and am republican by 10 or 15 points, i think i would be more nervous than ever before in my career. >> woodruff: what do you attribute all this to? >> first of all, judy, the joe wilson was particularly

appropriate, south carolina. it was september 2009 where joe wilson, i think, changed american politics. he was a member of the house of representatives then as he is now. president barack obama was addressing the congress on medicare joint session, and the president said illegal undoimentd immigrants would not be uncovered during the healthcare plan and joe wilson broke all customs, traditions and stood up and said you lie, you lie, and was reprimanded officially by the house of representatives, he had to apologize. he raised $1.5 million the next week. that's when it learned there wasn't a consequence to such behavior and it sort of -- i think really raised to different level the polarization and the personalization of our politics, that anything goes as long as you raise money. >> woodruff: kind of a turning point. >> i really feel that way. so i agree with david. i think there is energy, no

question, and passion, just as there was then against president obama in 2009, 2010. there isn't any trace of any racial component to the opposition to president trump, but there is passion, and i think that's what you see. what i would be worried about, democrats should be that this looks orchestrated, that it looks planned, that the democratic national committee sent out a message saying get in jeff flake's grill. so it's not just a question of spontaneity, of people expressing their own opposition or criticism about policies, but, instead, sort of organizing -- if it starts to rick of an organized effort, i think it hurts. as far as the special house elections, they're always admirationle, but if the democrats are going to win the house in 2018, they have to win districts like the one in georgia, which mitt romney won

by 20 points and donald trump only won by two. twice as college-educated electorate as any other state and this is the kind of state they have to break through. >> woodruff: what determines whether democrats stay energized or not, david? >> we learn patrons is the great organizing principle in politics and they have done so poorly in the midterms because their turnout tends to be low in those races. you know, to me, it's very hazardous to linearly project out. we've seen in the last week the trump administration shift in a radical way and, so, something really bad could happen, something really good could happen, but the odds the future a year from now will look like the present strike me an low. there is wide variance on what could happen, so i'm not sure it makes much sense to say what does 2018 look like because there are probably as many days as there are between now and

then, that's probably how many changes of directions we will see. >> one quick measure of prospects is the ability to translate that enthusiasm into contributions and the democratic candidate in georgia, john asaf, untried, untested, 38 years old, raised millions of dollars. >> woodruff: most from out of state. >> when the democrats did last capture the house from the republicans in 2006, one of the reasons they did is that the democrats under rahm emanuel's leadership, now mayor of chicago. devoted effort to recriewght candidates who fit the districts in which they ran, that's when they ran bring-dog democrats and conservative democrats, and since then have turned over the nominating process to national liberal groups whom they support and i think that's been a mistake and paid for it at the polls. >> one quick comment of the town

halls, i probably wouldn't go to them. i love political discussion. but when people shout at each other even if you agree, i think it's bad in general, whether you agree or not, it's not conversation, it's umbrage and a little theatrical. >> woodruff: they used to be very quiet, didn't they? this is a big change. david, you mentioned what appears to be a change in position by the president on a number of things around trade, around nafta, that he's going to declare china a currency manipulator on day one, that he's going to get health care passed. that's a different issue, you have to have congress go along. >> janet yellen. >> woodruff: janet yellen, the chairman of the federal reserve. what's going on here? changes of opinion? >> a lot of datapoints all of a sudden. most people, especially if you're an academic or writer, if you spend many months arguing china's a currency manipulator, you don't just then turn on a

dime. but donald trump is different. he's a marketing guy, a business guy, whatever is working for him at the moment, and it seems for him he's making the conclusion at the populism is not working and he's going to go to something else. what the "else" thing, is we don't know. it could be corporatism, it could be let me trust my business guys, let's go to the c.e.o.s, those guys i can trust, it seems to be instinct chiewl sense of he's shifting teams of who he wants to be advisors. the crucial policy is who is listening to. in one week, it's clear there is been a radical shift in his advising team. >> woodruff: it is a remarkable number of issues that the president appears, mark, to be taking the opposite stand from what he said during the campaign. >> no, you're right, judy. even during the campaign wherks he said things there were inconsistent or occasionally

contradictory, the defense, the rebuttal on the part of his supporters was, hey, h he may not always be following what he says but he says what he means and means what he says. the guy just doesn't say it all the time with polish but he says wit conviction. his convictions have the shelf life of a used kleenex. i mean, they just disappear. so, you know, now he's moved toward worth docksy, sort of a republican orthodoxy, pro-business orthodoxy, international responsible, america is, if not the policeman of the world, certainly a projector of force and influence in maintaining security. >> woodruff: just in the last week, the bomb dropped in afghanistan -- >> in afghanistan. but in both afghanistan and syria, there wasn't any consequence of -- real likely consequence of retaliation to the united states.

therthey were enormous acts, goe world's attention. north korea is different. tough talk in north korea is not going to stop kim jong un, i don't think, from a nuclear test, and i think the consequences in north korea and dealing with north korea really are enormously consequential and very, very serious and should be of concern to everybody involved. >> woodruff:, but david, the president, it seems to me, has been pretty loose with the tweets. he's been saying if china doesn't help us get north korea in line we'll do it ourselves. >> one is unnerved with the north korea situation. but i have to say, i think theth has had a good week on the subject. the shift in china, the harsher tone from china toward north korea, the drawing a red line against north korea and also against us, that's a win, that's a very significant development that china is clearly up-- upset, clearly concerned about what's going on and they're willing to step into

north korea and say don't cross that line. that is a significant shift. one has to give some credit to donald trump. two things have happened. one is the syria thing happened and the sense that the u.s. is sort of active again in the world, which it hasn't been for many years. second, i made this last week and mark did not respond favorably to it, which is there is some advantages and disadvantages to having an unpredictable guy as president. disadvantages if you're an ally but some advantages toward the enemy because they don't know what's happening and do i think the more assertive u.s. has had some role in progress on the north korea thing. >> woodruff: a week later, where are you? >> a week later, i accept david's apology. (laughter) no, i mean, judy, i mean, unpredictability is not the defining -- should not be the defining characteristic of a presidency. i mean, the ability to take new information and to change direction, you know, yes, and to change policy, is there any indication that there is any thought been give ton this

policy? i mean, the great consolation that people in washington take whether they should or shouldn't is james mattis, general mcmaster, you know, these are people of seriousness, rex tillerson, the people of stability and consequence, they don't have anything comparable at the home on the domestic side, and, you know, that's it. i just don't think you can have somebody do it on whim and by tweet. david's far more sang win about north korea and china right now than i am. >> i'm not saying sanguin, i'm saying progress. you get a team of advisors who are building a structure around trump, the mcmasters and gary cohens and maybe jared kushners.

and we're looking for the second tier to actually making more decisions and maybe the top guy is just outdoing his tweets. >> gary cohen better be careful. he better not be on a "saturday night live" skit featuring the dominant figure in the white house, be on the cover of "time" magazine. that in itself, i mean, donald trump, whatever else he, is we know is sensitive to aware and keenly interested in publicity and who gets attention, and i have to think that steve bannon's star was not elevated or helped by the kind of attention he got in the press. >> woodruff: "saturday night live" is an unforgettable image of him as the death, not just the grim reaper but death. >> and the dominant figure with his pup pet. >> woodruff: mark shields, david brooks, thank you both.

>> woodruff: the n.b.a. playoffs games begin this weekend, and it comes as one of the game's superstars just broke a historic record this week. john yang has the story. >> yang: oklahoma city thunder point guard russell west report did something this season no player has done in 55 years, he averaged double digits in points, assists and rebounds. a triple-double. the last n.b.a. player to do that, oscar robertson with the old cincinnati royals in the 1961-'62 season. what's more, westbrook was the leading scorer this year averaging 31 points a game including this game winner.

(cheers and applause) >> when russell was on this journey, i felt i had to be here. >> yang: robertson a hall of fame point guard, 12-time all-star and league m.v.p. honored westbrook before the thunder's final regular season game. and joining us from cincinnati is oscar robertson, who by the way, was the first african-american president of a pro sports labor union and brought the lawsuit that led to free agency in the n.b.a. mr. robertson, thanks so much for joining us. help us understand this accomplishment. put it into context. how difficult is it to achieve a triple-double and why did it take so long for someone to match your accomplishment in the '61-'62 season? >> well, i don't know. because, i guess, they weren't counting much about triple-doubles to begin with. but i do believe and evidence said this to many of my friends who are basketball players, when

kevin durant left oklahoma, it opened the door for russell westbrook, and he came through it with a lot of vigor and look what he's done with it. he had to attack. they had a team. probably didn't think the team would be worthy enough because kevin durant left but russell westbrook stepped up to the plate and delivered. >> yang: but to get a triple-double you have to be an all-around player, the power drive to score and the hustle to rebound and the playmaking for the assists. so is this why this is such a rare accomplishment? >> no, i think the rarity of it is that the assists are going to be there and the scoring, of course, because he's a treo fencive basketball player. the real key is can you get the rebounds. he agreed, that was the toughest thing to get is the rebounds sometimes. you get with a certain team now in this electronic age and, you

know, you have to be able to go inside and help to make people rebound, if you don't have a dominate regular bounding team, and i don't think obamacare state -- i don't think oklahoma state is that much of a rebounding team compared to some to have the teams in the league. >> yang: what do you think about average double-triples for the full season, westbrook? >> well, i thought about it and i felt very happy for russell because it was a tremendous treat, historic in nature because, you know,ates funny thing that when i did these things in the '60s, no one even knew what a triple-double was. this is a new age in basketball. you're seeing this year they drew more fans than in the history of basketball and russell westbrook stepped up to the plate. everybody wants the to see him play when he's on the court. this is really something. i think as people think about it

a bit, they will think much more than they do now. >> yang: when you were in oklahoma city with westbrook you charted the chant "m.v.p.." why do you think he should be m.v.p. this year? >> look what he did. he broke a record. he's been there 55 years. why shouldn't he be the m.v.p.? i think what he's done is marvelous. as i said before, he took a team people didn't think was going very far, although some other teams have gotten more wins than they have, but as far as being electrifying and drawing fans to the arena to see them play, he is the m.v.p.ov the league. >> yang: talking about electrifying the fans and drawing them in, the weekend the playoff start sunday, westbrook will face off against another top candidate of the m.v.p., james harden of the houston rockets. what do you think of that matchup? >> i think this is what championship basketball is all about. you get the best competition,

it's going to be more spirited, the fouls will be harder and the drives will be a be with more definition to them. it's going to be difficult for anybody that gets through there because they're in a difficult conference with san antonio, with the clippers and the golden state warriors. >> yang: what are you looking for in the playoffs this year? are you going to make a prediction for us? >> well, i'll just go what has happened so far. i think golden state is the team to beat. they've shown they have a team that can adjust to play against almost anybody, and even though durant's been out, he's back now, and, so, they didn't miss a beat when he was out. so they're going to move forward and i'm sure they're going to be the team to bet on the west coast. on the east coast, it's up in the air. there is no real dominant team. cleveland looked dominant for a while was got injuries. as lebron said, we're not playing tough enough, so i guess

something will happen soon whereby that may change. fit doesn't change, they're not winning the championship. >> yang: we'll see this weekend. oscar robertson, thank you so much for joining us. >> woodruff: finally tonight, the latest installment in our series of essays. tom nichols, author of "the death of expertise," shares his humble opinion on the demise of experts. >> a few years ago, a mischievous group of pollsters asked american voters whether they would support bombing the country of agrabah. as you might expect, republicans tended to support military action, while democrats were more reluctant. there's only one problem: agrabah doesn't exist. it's from the animated disney film "aladdin." only about half the people surveyed figured this out, and liberals and conservatives gleefully pointed fingers at each other.

for experts in foreign affairs, however, there was no way around the alarming reality that so many americans had a well-defined view on bombing a cartoon. i'm one of those experts. i teach both civilians and military officers about national security affairs. in my career, i've advised the pentagon, the c.i.a., and political leaders from both major parties. increasingly, however, laypeople don't care about expert views. instead, many americans have become insufferable know-it- alls, locked in constant conflict with each other while knowing almost nothing about the subject they are debating. how did this happen? how is it that people now not only doubt expert advice, but believe themselves to be as smart, or even smarter, than experienced professionals? parents who refuse to vaccinate a child, for example, aren't really questioning their doctors. they're replacing their doctors. they've decided that attending the "university of google," as one anti-vaccine activist put it, is the same as going to

medical school. people who have no idea how much the united states spends on foreign aid think they're the peers of experienced diplomats. experts in almost every field can tell similar stories. there's a lot of blame to go around for all of this. the smartphones and tablets that we carry around all day, that we think can answer anything, are only part of the problem. the american educational system, from grade school to graduate scool, encourages students to think of themselves and their views as special. an "a" is now a common grade. the news media, while trying to tell people what they need to hear, must compete for ears, eyes, and clicks, and so are also forced to ask them what they'd like to hear. and, even if we manage to avoid the intellectual pitfalls of the internet, we're still all too likely to get our news and views from social media, where a silly meme from your aunt rose in schenectady competes for your attention with actual information. we need to find our way back from this ego-driven wilderness.

historically, people return to valuing expert views in times of trouble or distress. we're all willing to argue with our doctors, until our fever is out of control. let's hope it doesn't come to that. but that's where we're headed, and unless we start accepting the limitations of our own knowledge, then each of us is failing in our obligation to participate in our democracy as involved, but informed, citizens. >> woodruff: and you can find more "expert" views from our series, "in my humble opinion," on our website. also online: meet a storm chaser who studies tornadoes-- not with a pickup truck, but with a supercomputer. he explains how his simulations could one day improve tornado forecasting. again, that's at www.pbs.org/newshour. later tonight on "washington week:" how have president trump's foreign policy priorities shifted since taking office? an all-foreign policy roundtable reports on the evolving trump doctrine and what it signals to

the global community. and on tomorrow's edition of pbs newshour weekend, a report on why hundreds of undocumented immigrants are flocking from the u.s. to canada, crossing the open northern border on foot. and we'll be back, right here, on monday. as tax day approaches, we'll look at protests over president trump's decicion not to release his tax returns. that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. have a great easter and passover. thank you, and good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> bnsf railway. >> supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressing problems-- skollfoundation.org. >> and the william and flora hewlett foundation, helping people build immeasurably better

lives. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and friends of the newshour. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org